Identical Snowflakes
by Tala White 14
Summary: When Jack meets a strange young boy with the ability to create ice, he realises that he might have missed one of mankind's biggest steps up the evolutionary ladder. Mutants? Why didn't anybody ever tell him? One-shot. Slight AU.


**A/N: Just for fun. An idea that has been itching at the back of my mind for a while now. Slight AU to make the puzzle fit. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men (the cartoon or the comics), nor do I own the Rise of the Guardians (the book or the movie). Any and all mistakes are my own.**

* * *

Jack Frost danced over the rooftops and twirled in the air. Snowflakes swirled and floated to the ground beneath him and covered the houses in blankets of snow. Along with him came an icy wind that bit at cheeks and dumped pure white snow from groaning branches, usually on unsuspecting Christmas shoppers. It was perfectly fitting, though. A mischievous companion for the Guardian of Fun.

With his long, wooden staff, Jack tapped windows to spread his feathery lace all over town. He had been a Guardian for a few years now and he was finding it a journey full of surprises. Jamie still believed, as well as all the children of Burgess. Other believers kept popping up from all over the world and unlike the other Guardians, Jack made sure to be seen. He made sure to spend time with every single believer because he knew how precious they were.

He passed over a park that echoed with shrieks. A wide grin spread over his face at the sight of a dozen children having a snowball fight.

Jack frowned lightly. It seemed as if the older boys had teamed up and were pelting the girls and clumsy little ones with expertly crafted balls of snow.

_How unfair,_ he thought before swooping down next to a six-year-old girl who was trying her best to supply an older redhead with ammo. She was clutching at handfuls of snow and squishing them together haphazardly into oddly shaped blobs.

With a swish of his staff, Jack created a whole pile of snowballs in front of her. Her hands stilled and her eyes widened at the sight. She slowly lifted her gaze and gasped audibly at the sight of a white-haired boy balancing on a stick. He winked at the child and she smiled shyly in return.

"Delia, pass me a snowball," the other girl demanded, holding her hand out impatiently, never taking her eyes off her opponents. Delia picked up one of Jack's creations and placed it delicately on the girl's outstretched palm.

The older girl automatically pulled her arm back to throw. After aiming, she glanced at her weapon and to her surprise; it wasn't at all like the lumps of compact snow she had been tossing before.

The red-haired girl turned her gaze to the smaller girl, who was smiling proudly at empty air. In front of the little girl a heap of snowballs were stacked. Admiration flashed across the elder girl's face. Not questioning the younger girl's sudden talent, she lobbed the icy ammunition at the enemy.

Even though the girl threw the snowball with little to no skill, it hit a bulky boy straight in the face. A cheer rose up from the previously losing side and the battle continued with renewed enthusiasm.

Having turned the tides, Jack continued on, leaving snow and laughter in his wake. He was passing over an ordinary-looking house, when he spotted something extremely unusual.

The two-storey house looked like any other, covered with snow and decorated with twinkling fairy lights. Through a window, Jack saw a slightly balding man cheering for a local sports team on the television and a plump woman sitting next to a cradle, reading a book. The baby in the cradle had a lick of brown hair on his head and sleepily sucked on his thumb. A fire crackled pleasantly in a grate, creating dancing shadows on the walls covered with family photos. Completely ordinary…

But the sight that caught Jack's attention was not the normal family enjoying a relaxing late afternoon. No, it was the boy lying outside in the snow. Dressed only in a jean and a plain blue t-shirt, the boy of about ten, was sprawled out in the snow. The boy looked extremely pale, even in comparison to the pure white snow surrounding him. Panic climbed up his throat and Jack dived downwards and hovered over the young boy. He sighed loudly in relief when he spotted the light rise and fall of the boy's chest.

Upon hearing the sound, the boy's eyes snapped open and he sprang up. The boy didn't cry out or run. He merely stared at the immortal Guardian with matching ice-blue orbs.

"Who are you?" The boy asked with honest curiosity. He had dark blonde hair and an open face. Intelligence sparkled in his eyes as he stared at the lanky stranger.

Jack smiled slightly and cocked his head to the side. "Who are _you?_" Jack mimicked.

A flash of annoyance crossed the boy's face and his bare toes curled into the snow. "I asked first, and you're kinda in my backyard." The boy crossed his arms and lifted an eyebrow cockily.

Jack laughed out loud and did a backflip in mid-air. He spun around and landed lightly back on his feet. With a grin he swung his staff around and propped his chin on it. He leaned forward, his eyes darting left and right, before resting on the boy. "I'm Jack Frost," he whispered as if sharing a secret.

Both of the boy's eyebrows reached for his hairline. "Come on. You expect me to buy that?" He asked sardonically. "I know what you are. You're one of those people with the special abilities. Mutants, right?"

Jack was surprised. He expected the boy to know who he was. He could see him, right? So, why didn't he believe? He's only had a few believers, granted, but all of them knew who he was and therefore, believed in him. How was it possible for the boy to be able to see him, but not know who he was? And what the hell was a mutant?

"What's a mutant?" Jack asked the boy, genuinely confused.

The boy smirked. "Do you live under a rock? Haven't you seen the news?" He eyed the young man's clothing. "Well, I guess if you can't even afford decent clothing, a TV must be out of the question."

Jack found himself feeling offended, yet liking the boy at the same time. Awe and wonder, or varying degrees of similar emotions, were usually the only reactions displayed by children. The boy's attitude was refreshing.

"A mutant is someone like you with something extra in their genetic material that allows you to do things that normal people can't."

Oh, the boy must be talking about some cartoon. The things people came up with these days fascinated and annoyed Jack very much. Sure, the moving box was quite entertaining at some times, but he hated it when children preferred to watch it rather than play outside.

Jack decided to humour the boy. He was enjoying this. He could already imagine the boy's surprise at finding out that all of the legends and myths were true and the idea made Jack grin. "Hmmh, I've never heard of mutants. Are you sure I'm one of them?" He asked.

The boy nodded solemnly and replied with a tone of condescension. "They've been talking a lot on the news about mutants. If you can do anything out of the ordinary, like flying for example, it means that you're a mutant. There's a mutant called Magneto that's on the news a lot. He can control metal."

Magneto? _Ah, magnet!_ Jack realised and chuckled at the absurdity. "Well, I don't know about Magneto, but I don't think he's friends with Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy!" Jack exclaimed while watching the boy's face closely.

The boy's eyes widened to the size of saucers and darted towards the door. To Jack's utter shock, the boy was measuring the distance to the entrance of his house. The boy wanted to run away from _him_.

Jack quickly decided on a different tactic. "No, really! You've probably heard of Old Man Winter, but I prefer Jack Frost. I'm the Guardian of Fun, alongside the Easter Bunny, Sandman, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. I bring Winter and snow to the world."

"Is that so?" The boy scrunched up his nose. "Prove it then." He stared Jack straight in the eyes with a defiant look.

This time Jack smirked. He had been expecting this request. He held out his hand and delicate snowflakes fell out of thin air, willed into existence by his thoughts. He looked at the boy who did not cease to amaze him.

The boy merely seemed curious. "Just because you can do that, doesn't mean you are the personification of Winter." Then the boy stuck out his hand and in his palm a fist-sized icicle appeared amidst a swirl of frigid air.

Jack's mouth fell open. What… Who was this boy? "Who are you? How did you that?"

The boy sighed and answered patronisingly. "My name's Bobby and like you, I'm a mutant."

Jack's mind stopped working a while ago. He was finding it very difficult to process this all. At least now he understood how the boy wasn't frozen to death. He needed to contact the Guardians. Find out if they knew about this development.

"You know what, I'm not too sure what's going on right now, so I think I'll go gather my thoughts and get back to you on that one." Jack said hesitantly. Bobby shrugged as if he didn't care either way. "There's a snowball fight going on about a block away if you wanted to join."

Again, the boy shrugged. "I'd be too tempted to cheat and clumps of ice are a lot harder than balls of snow." Jack laughed at the boy's expression. Bobby seemed genuinely ashamed. Something told Jack that he spoke from experience. Jack could only imagine what might have happened in such a scenario.

With a nod, Jack jumps into the air. "I'll be back!" He shouted at the boy, who was shrinking rapidly with distance. He turned his gaze to the Northern horizon and exclaimed, "Wind, take me to the North Pole." The wind obeyed instantly and whisked him away to his requested destination.

Feeling somewhat saddened by the sight, Bobby's gaze followed the blue speck. _What a strange guy,_ he thought before plopping back down into the cool, comforting snow.

* * *

"-and a piece of ice just appeared in his hand. Apparently he's not the only one! Did you know about this?" Jack ranted as he paced up and down in Santa's Workshop.

North was busy making a rocking horse, whilst little elves scurried around under everyone's feet. Since that fateful encounter with Pitch, the Guardians made it an annual thing to help each other out. The day before Easter everybody hid eggs and whenever one of the Guardians coincidently spotted a tooth they collected it without second thought.

Now, it was almost Christmas so the North Pole was teeming with activity. Tooth stood over a bunch of beads and with her tiny fingers easily created delicate strings of jewellery. Every now and then her head would whip up and she'd bark a command at a fleet of fairies that immediately flitted off to go fetch a tooth or two. Bunny was helping Phil, one of the Yeti's, paint a bunch of motorcars in every colour of the rainbow. Sandy was pasting and binding picture books in the corner of the workshop and had his hands full because of the elves constantly trying to eat the glue.

_Weird little things_, Jack thought and turned back to Santa. "Well, did you?" He demanded again.

"Yes, yes, _yes_, Jack!" North replied impatiently. He frowned in concentration. "I notice strange things happen with children. Last Christmas, girl walk through wall when I deliver gifts. She walk straight through wall! I have heart attack." He gestured wildly and clutched melodramatically at his chest.

Baby Tooth suddenly zipped over and started twittering. Jack didn't have a clue what she was trying to say but he nodded understandingly.

"Phil!" Bunny's voice echoed through the room. "Haven't ya heard of variation?" Bunny sighed, frustrated by the Yeti's inability to paint something more than one colour. A whole rack was proudly stacked with about two hundred green cars.

Bunny swiped the green paint and left the blushing Yeti to fluster over his work. "Ya need to get the guy some creative lessons, mate." Bunny told North, before turning his gaze to Jack. "Whatcha doing here?" he asked.

"I met a boy who could make ice, like me. It's the first time I've heard of these mutants but North says he's known about them for a while." Jack glared at the big man.

Bunny twitched his nose. "Yea, where've ya been? A few years back, a guy almost blew my butt off with laser beams outta his eyes. His eyes!" Jack looked sceptical. That seemed a bit farfetched.

"We live in strange time, Jack. Man moving forward. Example, people not hairy as when I young!" Santa joked and his joyous laughter thundered through the room. The twinkle in his eyes was especially prominent.

None of the Guardians seemed at all worried about the implications this development might hold. It would make their jobs so much more difficult, particularly for those who relied on staying hidden to do them. Jack sighed loudly as everybody went back to what they were doing. The old Guardians were so stuck in their ways that it was hard for them to fathom things changing from their current ways.

* * *

Jack loved Winter. He loved it just that tiny bit more in Christmas. The thousands of lights in every colour of the rainbow flickered and shown onto the white snow. The lights were broken by the ice and sparkled onto every surface. The town was sleeping blissfully underneath. He saw a fairy flit through an open window and golden sand reached, weaving into every child's bedroom.

Suddenly, a blue flash illuminated a house in the distance. Curious, Jack flew closer. He immediately recognised it as his initial destination and hurried towards it.

As light as snow, he landed on top of the roof and watched the display with awe. From the upstairs window icy gusts blew and swirled in the yard below. Delicate sculptures sprang to life. Crystalline spikes seemed to be the general creation, like a child learning to draw. But just like a child experimenting with different coloured crayons and learning to colour between the lines, Bobby was slowly gaining confidence and the creations became more elaborate and defined before Jack's eyes. He lacked the finesse that the Spirit of Winter gained over the years, but the boy could definitely become a powerful rival if this was merely play-play.

A soft giggle came from inside of the house as a dog-shaped piece of ice became visible. Jack couldn't resist. With a wide grin, he squinted and concentrated. From the snow beneath his feet a large wolf came to life and bounded through the air. He heard a gasp and lowered himself, upside down, to peer into the window.

For the first time Bobby looked surprise (to Jack's utter satisfaction). "How did you do that?" The boy whispered with wide eyes.

"Magic, kid. I told you I'm Jack Frost."

Then it happened. The feeling that Jack adored. It felt as if a flower bloomed inside his chest and he knew that he could add another believer to his list.

"But you're not too bad yourself. With a lot of practice you might, _might,_ one day be half as good as me!" Jack crowed and spun himself upright. He perched on the windowsill and the boy blushed at the compliment.

"Thanks. I have trouble melting it, though." Bobby admitted. It felt great to finally be able to talk about the things he was able to do so naturally. He hadn't told anyone before – it was his secret to keep safe. His dad kept yelling at the TV when mutant debates came on and his mother simply tut-tutted and wondered what the world had gone to. The possibility of having a friend that understood his talent was overwhelming, to say the least.

Jack smiled knowingly. "Uh-huh, having trouble melting it? Yeah, I had the same problem for the first decade or so of bringing Winter. Subconsciously, I guess, I didn't want the snow or ice to melt because it made me feel like I was burning down my home. Don't tell any of the other Guardians," Jack said conspiratorially. "But I actually do understand the need for balance. The weather can't always be cold, and neither can life always be fun, so as soon as I realised that ice can be made again and again, melting became easy even if it's technically against my nature."

To prove his point, he waved his staff and melted every sculpture in the garden. The water fell onto the snow and was quickly frozen once again. For safety purposes, Jack blanketed the hazardous ice with a fresh layer of dusty snow.

"Wow," the boy sighed and smiled as the snow-wolf bounded up into the air and exploded into icy stars. He turned his head to stare up at Jack, his eyes shining with restored wonder. "Thanks, Jack."

Jack grinned. "I make a mean ice-slide?" he hinted with a roll of his shoulders.

Bobby laughed and shook his head. "No thanks," he told Jack and ran to his bedroom door, closing and locking it.

Jack hung in the air outside of the window and watched the boy curiously. Bobby took off his slippers and clambered onto the windowsill. "Watch this," he whispered and stuck his hands out in front of him. With a deep breath, he jumped, ice already swirling and forming to catch him. A soft whoop echoed through the silent night as the boy sped forward on his creation.

Jack followed without hesitation, the wind laughing around the corners of sleeping homes. This mutant-thing looked less and less like a problem. Nope, this looked like _fun_.


End file.
